Gastrointestinal infections are a serious cause of significant morbidity and mortality over the world each year (Culligan et al. 2009). Gastrointestinal infectious diseases are becoming increasing challenging to treat mainly because of the increasing emergence of very dangerous antibiotic resistant microorganisms, also known as ‘super bugs’. Further, no new antibiotic classes have been discovered in recent past and pharmaceutical companies have significantly reduced their investment in antimicrobial research (Alanis, 2005). Consequently, there is a critical need to explore and develop new and innovative therapeutics for instance against Vibrio cholerae. 
Cholera is a very serious and highly infectious disease caused by V. cholerae, which infects the human GI tract through transmission by contaminated water and/or food. Cholera-infected patients suffer acute diarrhoea. If they are left untreated, they may die within a few hours. Today, cholera is still prevalent in many developing countries, with the highest rates in Asia (Sack et al, 2006).
Conventional methods of treating cholera include oral rehydration therapy, antibiotic therapy and vaccines. Oral rehydration and antibiotics have been effective in treating cholera, but antibiotic resistant strains are becoming more common (Sack et al. 2006; Shukla et al. 2008). Therefore, antibiotics should not be used as a preventative measure, because this will encourage the spread of resistant strains. Moreover, while oral rehydration therapy is an effective treatment method, it cannot prevent infection. In addition, although two cholera vaccines are available, the vaccines only provide around 50-60% immunity in the first two years (Sinclair et al. 2011). Preventing people from being infected in a cholera epidemic is important, as it will reduce the likelihood of healthy people being infected and further contaminating the environment and other people.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for novel, unconventional antimicrobial strategies —for instance against V. cholerae—that can complement current antibiotic therapy, but could also be used as a preventative measure.